Outside the Beltway

Polls matching President Obama against potential Republican contenders are entertaining but not informative.

President Obama is proposing to cut billions of dollars from the Pell Grant program, making it harder for kids from poor families to attend college.

Later this week, Clarence Thomas will have gone five years without asking a question during oral argument at the Supreme Court. Is that really a big deal?

Four Senators who just happen to be up for re-election next year are silently looking for alternatives to the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.

Oddly, the Democratic Party seems to be responding to the 2010 midterms by moving further left.

Hosni Mubarak may hang on to some semblance of power longer than many expected in the middle of last weeks chaos, mostly because there are few other alternatives right now.

President Obama is telling business they have a social responsibility to invest in America. He’s wrong.

President Obama’s approval numbers have dropped 9 points since the Egypt crisis broke out.

A new Wikileaks revelation indicates that the U.S. may have paid a heavy price to get a deal on New START.

Some in Washington are claiming the intelligence community missed the warning signs of unrest in Tunisia and Egypt in what looks like little more than an effort to create scapegoats if things go wrong.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded to mass unrest by cutting off his people from the outside world. Do we really want an American President to have the same power?

The United States is facing a serious public relations problem among the Egyptian people.

Jon Huntsman is running for president. Who the hell is Jon Huntsman, you say?

The House has voted to repeal the broken system of financing presidential elections.

Does Russia really spend more on roads than we do?

The initial instant reaction to the President’s speech last night was largely positive, but does it really matter?

The blogging of Mark Levin’s magnum opus continues.

The night before the State Of The Union Address, Barack Obama is in a far better position than many people thought he’d be after November’s election results.

The Illinois Appellate Court has tossed mayoral frontrunner Rahm Emanuel off the ballot, saying he didn’t meet residency requirements.

The Beast has released its The 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010, which I gather is supposed to be amusing rather than taken seriously.

As the night of the State Of The Union Address approaches, the silliness in Washington has been taken up a notch.

Republicans in Idaho are talking about resurrecting the foolish and discredited idea of nullification as a weapon in the fight against ObamaCare.

Comedienne Joan Rivers tells Howard Stern why she ditched a joke calling Michelle Obama “Backie O.”

Despite a bad week and a half, there are still signs that Sarah Palin is at least looking at a run for the White House in 2012. Which may be why some Republicans seem to be getting worried about her.

Time for midterms.

Inevitably, the Nazis made an appearance during yesterday’s debate over health care reform in the House. It’s time for it to stop, or at least time for the rest of us to stop taking seriously anyone who resorts to such arguments.

After a fairly bad 2010, Barack Obama is starting off 2011 in a very good position.

The newest WaPo/ABC News poll numbers.